Waiting Shapeless

Chapter 39. One year ago

One year ago.
Hud: Pardos

It had been a satisfying day.

The Kazirabi I secretly worked for was only barely tolerable on a good day, but today the old thing wasn't even there. I did the work without any criticisms or revisions, and then headed contently back for home.

Sometimes I did fights too.

Underground fights. That was always fun, and usually always profitable. As a Pardos, fighting came naturally to me, so I usually did pretty good.

The city Natilliea and I had been hiding in was filled to the brim with underground or 'illegal' activity, which made it a perfect place for us to be. What better place to hide a tree than in a forest?

She had been working too actually. Despite the scummy apartment we had reluctantly made into our home, we had been living fairly comfortably. I was going to be fine with anything really. I was more concerned with keeping Natilliea happy and comfortable, but she surprisingly seemed to enjoy the dangerous atmosphere the location provided. Sometimes she would even attend my fights and cheer me on, although we tried to keep that at a minimum. We couldn't be seen together outside of our apartment, of course.

But Natilliea had to take a lot of time off work lately.

She was pregnant.

I didn't think it was dangerous for her to be out and about in her pregnancy, but we both agreed that the pregnancy should be kept hidden as much as possible.

Her giving birth to my child was incredibly illegal. Hell, just me loving her was incredibly illegal.

I suspected she was getting bored, cooped up in the small apartment day in and day out. She was always eager for adventure. But her and I both knew it was better that she stay there for now.

The buildings were cast with darkening shadows as the evening progressed. I moved through the thick crowds as I progressed towards home. Beings of all species bustled through the tight Kazirabi streets, most of them smelling like they needed a bath and a toothbrushing.

Random articles of clothing hung out of the haphazard and asymmetrical Kazirabi structures. The smell of the street food filled my nostrils as I passed by the junk filled market.

Every once in a while I would see another Pardos in the crowd. We would avoid eye contact. Everyone avoided eye contact. We all had something to hide in this city.

I crossed the final street before my destination. Beings around me were weaving between the trash that littered it's gutters. Sometimes I would take different routes home just to make sure I wasn't predictable for anyone that tried to follow me.

I didn't think I had been followed yet, but I figured I could never be too careful.

I ducked down an alleyway, finally escaping the river-like crowds of aliens.

The alley was quieter than usual, but that's what I preferred. It always made me cringe when someone watched me as I came down this way.

The alley opened up to a trashy little courtyard that may have once had beautiful flowers growing in it. I quickly crossed through it, feeling uncomfortable in the open space.

Moving past the buildings, I slipped  into another alleyway. There was a rusty old gate that I opened as quietly as possible, passed through and shut again, then turned down another alley and to finally reach my door.

The Kazirabi liked to build their buildings without stairs or levels. But in a crowded city like this, single level buildings were nonexistent. So instead of stairs, the Kazirabi built their structures with strange tunnel like slope-ways that arched up to the different levels, like the den of a burrowing animal.